Ronald Fred Seikaly (born May 10, 1965) is a Lebanese-American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He was one of the first internationally born players to make an impact on American basketball. Considered one of the top college players from the Syracuse basketball program, Seikaly's stellar offense and defense placed him among the school's all-time leaders in

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and blocks, while earning several nationally recognized awards and honors. Drafted into the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) by the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

with the 9th pick of the 1988 draft and the first-ever pick for the Heat, Seikaly developed into one of the best centers in the NBA and the team's top offensive and defensive contributors—winning NBA player of the week twice—and also amassing many of the team's records (of which some are still standing). His career highs with the Heat are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocks, 8 assists, and 5 steals. Seikaly earned the 1990

NBA Most Improved Player Award The NBA's Most Improved Player (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of sportsw ...

and later played for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

and

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. He was also part of the

United States national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...

during the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

, winning gold. After his retirement from basketball, Seikaly became a successful real estate developer. He also works in electronic music as a producer/DJ, and hosted his radio show, ''Sugar Free Radio'', on Sirius/XM.

Early life

Seikaly was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. At the age of 10, he moved from Beirut to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he attended a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In 1979, at the age of 14, he moved to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, where he spent the rest of his youth. While in Greece, he attended and graduated from the American School, also known as ACS Athens. As a youth, he played basketball, and also excelled in

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

. At age 14, he also began to DJ. In 1981, when Seikaly was 16, the Panathinaikos basketball player Takis Koroneos took note of him, after he purchased a pair of basketball sneakers in Koroneos' athletics store. On the recommendation of Koroneos, Seikaly was selected to join Panathinaikos' men's senior team, in order to begin training and practicing with them. In 1982, at age 17, he first played with the team in a tournament in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He continued to train and practice with Panathinaikos until 1983. However, because he did not have a Greek passport, he was not able to register with the team to play in any games in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

, since no foreign players were allowed to play in the league until 1988.

College career

In 1983, Seikaly moved from Greece to the United States and began attending

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in central

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. He played center for the

Syracuse Orange men's basketball The Syracuse Orange men's basketball program is an college basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball team representing Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athle ...

team. He led his Syracuse team to the 1987 NCAA tournament championship finals against the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

during his junior year, after averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds per game throughout the tournament. He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, and was also named to the John R. Wooden All-American Team. He graduated from Syracuse as the school's all-time leading rebounder, second in school history in blocked shots, and fourth in school history in scoring. At the time, he was only the second player ever to record 1,000 points and rebounds during his tenure at Syracuse. He was named to the Orange's All 20th Century Team, and his number 4 jersey has been retired and raised to the rafters at the Carrier Dome.

Professional career

Miami Heat (1988–1994)

Seikaly was taken by the Miami Heat with the 9th pick in the first round of the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

. As well as being the franchise's first ever college draft pick, Seikaly became the first player born in

to compete in the

(NBA). The rookie center quickly emerged not only as a pivotal player within the team, but also among the league's top centers. In his second season, he led the Heat in points (16.6), rebounds (10.4) and blocks (1.7) while placing sixth in the league in rebounding. At the conclusion of the season he was awarded with the

. In the 1990–91 season, Seikaly increased his rebounding average to 11.1 rebounds per game while maintaining his 16 points per game average and then they acquired other young players to serve as scoring options such as Glen Rice and Steve Smith. In the 1991–92 season, Seikaly again averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds (6th in the league) as the Heat, bolstered by his play and Rice's scoring, led the team to 38 wins and the first playoff berth for the franchise. Despite the breakthrough, Miami was no match for the defending champions, the

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

-led

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, who swept the Heat in three games. For the series against the Bulls, Seikaly averaged 19.1 points with 9.2 rebounds. Seikaly increased his scoring to 17.3 and once again averaged 11.8 rebounds a game (8th in the league) during the 1992–93 season. He managed to win the NBA player of the week after averaging 30 points and 20 Rebounds for the week of March 7. The following season featured increased scoring by Rice and Smith, and Seikaly averaged 15.1 points a game for third on the team while leading the team in rebounds with 10.3 rebounds per game. The Heat won 42 games, good enough to make the playoffs. Facing off against the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in the first round. Seikaly's career with Miami saw him setting numerous single-game team records, including blocks (8), rebounds (34) and double–doubles. During his run with the Heat, he had the nickname "The Spin Doctor", due to his trademark low-post spin moves. His career highs with the Heat are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocks, 8 assists, and 5 steals.

Golden State Warriors (1994–1996)

On November 2, 1994, Seikaly was traded to the

for Sasha Danilović and

Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and th ...

. Seikaly only played in 36 games during the 1994–95 season, but started in all but one of those appearances averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Warriors who were decimated by injuries. He would go on to start in 60 of 64 games in the 1995–96 season, averaging 12 points and 7.8 rebounds, but the Warriors once again were plagued by injuries and could not reach the playoffs. In November 1996, he was once again traded, this time to the

Orlando Magic (1996–1998)

In November 1996, Seikaly, Clifford Rozier and a 1999 second-round draft pick were traded to the

for Donald Royal, Felton Spencer and Jon Koncak. The Magic had been a dominant Eastern Conference team, but lost superstar center

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, and Seikaly was brought in to fill the void. Despite playing alongside other veteran scorers such as Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, Seikaly boosted his scoring to 17.3 points per game for second on the team behind All-Star

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway played colle ...

, and led the team in rebounds per game (9.5) and blocks (1.4). The Magic won 45 games and entered the playoffs as the 7th seed in the conference, facing off against Seikaly's old team in Miami, who then featured an All-Star center

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

. Despite taking a 2–0 lead in Miami, the Heat responded with two wins at home to tie the series at 2 games apiece, but injuries forced Seikaly out of the 4th and deciding 5th games in which the Heat won to advance. Seikaly would start in 47 games to start the 1997–98 season, but in February the Magic agreed to trade Seikaly to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for Chris Morris, Greg Foster and a first-round draft pick. The Magic soon rescinded the trade due to Seikaly's refusal to report and instead sent Seikaly to the

alongside Brian Evans in exchange for Yinka Dare, David Benoit, Kevin Edwards and a first-round draft pick. He averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his stint in Orlando.

New Jersey Nets (1998–1999)

Following his arrival in New Jersey, Seikaly had a career ending foot injury and only played in 9 games to finish the 1997–98 season, and would only play in 9 games of the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season before retiring from the league. He holds NBA career averages of 14.7 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game.

FC Barcelona (2000)

In 2000, Seikaly moved to the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

club

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. In three games played in Spain's

2000–01 ACB season The 2001-02 ACB season was the 19th season of the Liga ACB. Regular season Playoffs See also * Liga ACB External links ACB.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:2000-01 ACB season Liga ACB seasons Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a c ...

, he averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in 28.3 minutes played per game. With Barcelona, he also played in the top-level European-wide club competition, the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. In the EuroLeague's 2000–01 season, he played in a total of four games. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 24.5 minutes played per game.

Career statistics

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 3, , 3, , 39.0, , .543, , .000, , .750, , 10.0, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 1.7, , 20.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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, 5, , 3, , 33.0, , .438, , .000, , .565, , 9.4, , 1.6, , 0.8, , 1.4, , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 3, , 3, , 28.7, , .318, , .000, , .714, , 5.3, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 1.0, , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, 3, , 0, , 12.3, , .778, , .000, , .667, , 3.0, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 14, , , 9, , 28.9, , .480, , .000, , .676, , 7.3, , 0.9, , 0.5, , 1.1, , 10.0

EuroLeague career statistics

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National team career

Greece

Seikaly first began training and practicing with the senior Greece national team, in 1983, at the age of 18. However, because he was unable to acquire a Greek passport, he was unable to represent Greece's national team in any official games. Despite that obstacle, he continued to train and practice with Greece's national team until 1986. Despite not being able to play with Greece, Seikaly felt connected to the national team, since he had trained and practiced with it for 3 years. Because of that, he sat next to the Greek team's bench at the final of the 1987 Athens EuroBasket, that Greece beat the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to win the tournament's gold medal.

United States

Seikaly became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of the United States. He was then able to represent

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at both the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

and the

. As a member of Team USA, he won gold medals at both tournaments.

Lebanon

Seikaly later asked

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

to grant him permission to represent the Lebanese national team. FIBA granted the request, and Seikaly was thus able to represent Lebanon. With Lebanon, he played at the 1999 West Asian Championship, which was held in

. Seikaly helped the Lebanese win the tournament's silver medal. He averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds in those games.

Musical career

Seikaly, an avid lover of music, started DJing at the age of 14 whilst living in Greece. After retiring from basketball, he developed his passion into a musical career as a professional DJ and music producer. "Sports will always be my love, but music will always be my passion," he said. Seikaly has been producing and working in the genres of house, deep house, tech house and techno, and has played in many of the major clubs across the globe. He has released many solo EPs including a lot of his early work "House Calls" in 2010. He also ran his own radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio called ''SugarFreeRadio'' which aired four days per week and was a resounding success since 2012.

Personal life

Seikaly speaks four languages fluently: English,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and French. During his NBA playing career, he returned to Greece during the off-season, to visit his friends and family members. When

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

returned to the NBA

HIV-positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

, and there was opposition to his inclusion in the league, because of his health status, Seikaly challenged him to a game of one-on-one, to show everyone that HIV is not contagious by touch. Seikaly owns and runs a multi-million-dollar real estate investment company. From July 2011 to January 26, 2024, Seikaly had a relationship with a Brazilian model, a relationship that produced a daughter, Aya.

Charity

Seikaly is involved in many charities, such as the Miami Heat's Corporate Education and "Shoot for the Stars" programs, Make A Wish Foundation and many more. Revenues from the sale of his 2012 album, ''Nervous Nitelife Presents Rony Seikaly'', went to the Children's Department at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Foundation in Miami.

References

External links

;Basketball
NBA.com Historical Player File
*
Euroleague.net ProfileSpanish League Archive Profile

Spanish League Profile
;Music
Official Rony Seikaly Music websiteFacebook

iTunes

YouTubeDiscogs.com: Rony Seikaly page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seikaly, Rony 1965 births Living people 1986 FIBA World Championship players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Goodwill Games gold medalists All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Spain American house musicians American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games FC Barcelona Bàsquet players FIBA World Championship–winning players Golden State Warriors players Greek expatriate basketball people in the United States Lebanese emigrants to Greece Lebanese emigrants to the United States Lebanese men's basketball players Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Liga ACB players Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players New Jersey Nets players Orlando Magic players Panathinaikos B.C. players Basketball players from Beirut Syracuse Orange men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players 20th-century American sportsmen